Yemen ups security at oil and gas facilities

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen has boosted security at energy installations to guard against militant attacks, a government official said Sunday, as Sanaa escalated its war against al Qaeda.

Yemen, a small oil producer with output of around 300,000 barrels per day, has come under pressure to act against al Qaeda since attacks on its two main allies, Saudi Arabia and the United States, by militants coming from Yemeni soil. "The security measures have been strengthened for some time. But we took additional measures around oil institutions and the gas project in Shabwa," the official told Reuters, adding the measures were put in place "in case of any terrorist attacks."

Other officials said fresh measures included sending extra security forces and police to guard oil and gas facilities. They said the measures were implemented Saturday, a day after Yemen said an air strike killed six al Qaeda militants.

Yemen gained a reputation as a haven for al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, and came under the spotlight after crackdowns on the group in Pakistan and Afghanistan raised concerns it was becoming a training and recruiting centre for militants.

The Yemen wing of the global militant network, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has strongholds in Yemen's eastern province of Hadramaut and the towns of Maarib and Shabwa, where oil and gas fields of major international companies are located.

Yemen is an oil producing minnow in a region of export giants such as neighbour and top exporter Saudi Arabia, so interruption of its oil output would have little impact on international energy markets.

But the country is fighting a resurgent al Qaeda while also facing a northern Shi'ite insurgency and separatists in the south. It relies on oil revenues for 70-75 percent of public revenue and more than 90 percent of export earnings.

Any interruption to that income would put pressure on the budget of an already desperately poor country that says it needs billions of dollars of economic aid.

CRACKDOWN

The local headquarters of several large Western oil companies are clustered in the capital, and residential areas that house Western embassies and foreigners in Sanaa have been attacked before.

A $4.5 billion (2.8 billion pound)Total-led liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Yemen started production in October, with a 322-km pipeline linking gas fields in Maarib to the coast.

Yemen stepped up its operations against al Qaeda after a Yemen-based wing of the group said it was behind an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on December 25.

Yemen later declared open war on al Qaeda, warning citizens against aiding the global militant group, and troops were sent last week to join a drive against al Qaeda in three provinces.

Friday, Yemen said an air strike killed six al Qaeda militants in northern Yemen in an attack one analyst has said would be a significant blow to al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing.

Friday's strike on two cars was reported to have killed the Yemeni al Qaeda wing's military chief Qasim al-Raymi as well as Ayed al-Shabwani, accused of sheltering militants on his farm in the Maarib province where their training took place.

The foiled Christmas bombing has focussed attention on the growing prominence of al Qaeda in Yemen and the expanding role of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies in fighting it. Violence has also flared in recent weeks with northern Shi'ite rebels fighting a separate conflict with the central government.

Washington and Riyadh, both allies of Sanaa, fear chaos in Yemen would allow al Qaeda to use safe havens there for attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

Yemeni forces battling northern Shi'ite insurgents said on Sunday they had inflicted heavy losses on the rebels in the Saada region in recent fighting.

"The armed forces heroes managed to destroy a vehicle carrying weapons and terrorists ... and foiled attempts by these elements to obtain reinforcements and materials that had been in short supply," Yemen's state news agency reported, citing security sources.

The rebels, who revolted against the government in 2004, complaining of social, economic and religious marginalisation, have rejected cease-fire conditions set by the government.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; writing by Cynthia Johnston; editing by Amran Abocar and Philippa Fletcher)